Although mushrooms can be found all year round, autumn is prime time for their fruiting bodies. What you see above ground is only the tip of the iceberg of the vast underground network of mycelia, extending many hundreds of meters away.
Fungi is a kingdom of its own, separating it from plants and animals. It consists of mushrooms, bracket fungi, moulds, yeasts and (with algae) lichens. There are 15,000 species found in the UK. New species are being discovered regularly. (image of Parasol Mushroom, Macrolepiota Procera)
Fungi play a crucial role in the food web, providing food for wildlife and helping to recycle natural material. Without fungi, the fallen autumn leaves and dead wood in the parks would not break down into the soil.
You might be surprised how many foods are made using fungi. Fizzy drinks, wine, beer, cheese, bread, Marmite, Quorn, coffee and chocolate all depend on fungi. Fungal mycelium is also being used to create environmentally friendly leather, packaging, and even building materials! (image:Turkey Tail, Trametes Versicolor)
The cherry red cups grow on decaying sticks and branches in damp spots and beneath the leaf litter from December to April. In European folklore, it was said that wood elves drank morning dew from the cup!
These can be found in rings in the months of August to December and is also known as Monks Head and Wood Funnel.
A large yellow-white coloured bracket fungus that grows on trees and stumps.
Usually associated with churchyards, these tiny mushrooms can be found at Stonepit field & Great Linford Manor Park.
These are finger-shaped long cylindrical caps found between April and November. Its cap is scaly (shaggy), which is why they are also known as Lawyer’s Wig. It is called an ink cap because it dissolves into a thick black substance as it matures.
These look like black balls, and grow on ash trees, fallen branches and rotten deciduous woodland all year round. They are named after the legend of King Alfred who, when in hiding from the Vikings, was left to mind some cakes by the peasant that had taken him in. He burnt them, and they looked like small blackened balls, similar to the fungi.
Although the legend may not be true, we do know for sure that they are home to many insect larval stages.